Importance of Research on Technology and Early Literacy
- Creating literate and successful students is a fundamental goal of education.
- There is considerable research on the importance of early literacy instruction and its effects on later academic success (i.e. National Early Literacy Panel [NELP], 2008; National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, 2000, Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1989).
- Recent research indicates that 98% of elementary school classrooms have computers in the classroom, with 75% of the teachers reporting that they use the technology regularly (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2010).
- As more and more young students use technology in the classroom, there is a need for high quality research on the effectiveness of this technology on the emergent literacy skills of these students.
- Despite the high percentage of young students in classrooms using technology, the impact of technology on the early literacy skills of young children remains largely unknown (Hisrich & Blanchard, 2009).
- Annual spending on educational technology in the United States was predicted to increase to $4.9 billion in 2013 and top $6.8 billion by 2015 (NeXt Up Research, 2011). Additional independent research on the relationship between technology and literacy is needed in order to justify (or discourage) districts’ large expenditures and inform their decisions about how to integrate technology into the instructional curriculum (Tracey & Young, 2007).
References
Hisrich, K. & Blanchard, J. (2009). Digital media and emergent literacy. Computers in the Schools, 26, 240-255.
National Center for Educational Statistics (2010). Teachers’ use of educational technology in U.S. public schools: 2009. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2010/2010040.pdf
National Early Literacy Panel. (2008). Developing early literacy: Report of the National Early Literacy Panel. Washington DC: National Institute for Literacy.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel. Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction: Reports of the subgroups (NIH Publication No. 00-4754). Washington DC: UC Government Printing Office.
NeXt Up Research (2011). NeXt Knowledge Factbook 2010. Retrieved from http://s3.amazonaws.com/zanran_storage/www.nextupresearch.com/ContentPages/2493178098.pdf
Snow, C.E., Burns, S., & Griffin, P. (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young children. Washington DC: National Academy Press.
Tracey, D.H., & Young, J.W. (2007). Technology and early literacy: The impact of an integrated learning system on high-risk kindergartners’ achievement. Reading Psychology, 28, 443-467.
National Center for Educational Statistics (2010). Teachers’ use of educational technology in U.S. public schools: 2009. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2010/2010040.pdf
National Early Literacy Panel. (2008). Developing early literacy: Report of the National Early Literacy Panel. Washington DC: National Institute for Literacy.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel. Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction: Reports of the subgroups (NIH Publication No. 00-4754). Washington DC: UC Government Printing Office.
NeXt Up Research (2011). NeXt Knowledge Factbook 2010. Retrieved from http://s3.amazonaws.com/zanran_storage/www.nextupresearch.com/ContentPages/2493178098.pdf
Snow, C.E., Burns, S., & Griffin, P. (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young children. Washington DC: National Academy Press.
Tracey, D.H., & Young, J.W. (2007). Technology and early literacy: The impact of an integrated learning system on high-risk kindergartners’ achievement. Reading Psychology, 28, 443-467.